


Encounter at Andre's

by Nomolosk



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-27
Updated: 2019-08-27
Packaged: 2020-09-27 21:46:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,295
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20414815
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nomolosk/pseuds/Nomolosk
Summary: Adrien runs into Marinette at Andre's one afternoon, leading to a change in their relationship.





	Encounter at Andre's

Adrien counted himself lucky he convinced his bodyguard to stop for ice cream on the way home from school. It was seldom he had the chance, since he usually had extra lessons after the school day was over, but today was a rare day when he had the free time, and no arbitrary commands from his father to come straight home from school.

He got his usual from Andre- raspberry with chocolate chips, blackberry, and blueberry- and walked to the other side of the bridge to eat it on the steps. He planned to sneak some to Plagg, who liked the slightly tart taste of the blueberry flavored ice cream- he said it went well with cheese- so he wanted to eat it out of sight of his bodyguard. To his surprise he saw a familiar figure also eating ice cream on the steps.

He smiled. Maybe he wouldn’t be able to sneak ice cream to his kwami, but at least he wouldn’t be eating his ice cream completely alone. There was no sign of Nino or Alya… Was she waiting for someone? He watched her take one of the two spoons that came with the ice cream- Andre’s wasn’t called ‘Sweethearts Ice Cream’ for nothing- and put it in her purse.

“Hey Marinette!” he said, “Do you mind if I sit with you?”

Marinette, as usual, seemed startled to see him. She really had a strong startle reflex around him…

“Gah! Um… hey, Adrien. Sure, you san cit, I mean… yes.” Her ice cream was a scoop of something pink with a scoop of something green on top.

“So are you waiting for someone?” he asked.

“Oh… no,” she smiled at him a little nervously. “It’s just really good ice cream. And I still feel bad about… well, nevermind.”

“Cool.” He took a scoop of all three of his flavors and savored it, thinking about Ladybug. The flavors blended well. “I don’t get to get this ice cream very often… between all my after school stuff, my father, and Andre’s habit of never setting up in the same place, this is pretty much a perfect storm situation.”

“I'm glad it worked out today!”

“Me too! And glad you’re here at the same time. Want to try mine?” He pulled his second spoon out with a small scoop on it and offered it to her.

"Oh, um… sure!" She tried to take the spoon from him but he held on to it, smiling at her. So she just ate the ice cream on it. "Mmm… I like it! But you could have just given me the spoon."

He laughed, delighted with his little joke. "So what's yours?"

“Peach and mint,” she said, and blushed for some reason. 

Hmm, Adrien thought. Knowing Andre, he probably meant the flavors to refer to someone special.

“That’s sounds… interesting. I can’t really imagine those two flavors going together.”

“It’s really good, though! Surprising, but good.” She smiled at him, and he felt that warm glow in his heart. She was such an awesome friend to have, he counted himself lucky every time he thought of it. He just wished she could be a little more relaxed around him- it made him feel guilty every time she jumped or squeaked when he was around. If he wasn’t already in love with Ladybug, and she wasn’t so jumpy around him, he’d be tempted to try and catch her interest himself.

“So… who does that stand for? Do I know him?” he asked, nudging her arm with his elbow. He had a thought that, strangely, made his stomach sink. He had no right to think of Marinette that way… but he knew Luka had a crush on her… or maybe he just wanted her to be his muse. Something like that, anyway. “Is it Luka? Maybe I could put in a good word for you!”

“L-Luka? N-no, it’s not Luka.” She blushed a little. “I know he likes me, but… it’s not him.”

“Oh.” For some reason that made the incipient pit in his stomach vanish. “Who is it, then?”

“Uh… well, it’s... I’d rather not tell you,” she said, looking down at her ice cream. She took a hasty bite, then had trouble choking it down. After a minute she grimaced up at him. “Brain freeze…” she explained.

“Ouch.” He was disappointed. He had hoped she’d confide in him. Marinette deserved someone special in her life. He couldn’t forget the night she’d told him she’d had her heart broken, too. He’d been Cat Noir at the time, but...

“Marinette!” 

Adrien’s eyebrows rose as a small voice called her name from her purse. Marinette’s eyes widened and she laughed nervously, shutting her purse quickly. “Sorry… it’s a text alert- my mom changed it. She thinks it’s funny.”

Adrien laughed. “Well, it kinda is! I wish my father had your parent’s sense of humor.”

“So…” she said slowly, “are you meeting someone?”

“No. But I’m glad we happened to be here at the same time. It’s always nicer to get treats with a friend.”

“And… do your flavors remind you of someone?”

“Yeah,” he said, blushing.

“So why isn’t she here?”

“She’s… really busy. She’s… well, she’s Ladybug,” he said shyly. Usually he kept his infatuation with his akuma-fighting partner on the down-low when he wasn’t being Cat Noir, but he was sure Marinette wouldn’t tease him about it. He didn't notice her suddenly wide eyes or tense posture.

“O-oh! Wow. Yeah, I guess you can’t just… call her up and ask her, can you?” she said.

“No.” He smiled. “Maybe one day though… if I run into her after she’s done fighting an akuma.”

“But… isn’t Cat Noir supposed to be in love with her, though? I mean… wouldn’t he be jealous? I don’t think I want to see what an akumatized Cat Noir could do.”

He had to grin at that. “Honestly, I don’t think he’d mind. I only know him a little bit because he helped Ladybug save my life a couple of times, but he seems like the kind of guy who’d just want her to be happy, you know?” With me, he added silently, in either of my personas. But just a moment later he was wondering what it would be like to love someone like Marinette instead. Someone… approachable.

“Well,” she said softly. “I’m pretty sure you could make her happy.”

“Thanks!” he said, delighted. “You know… I have to ask. Have you told this guy you like him?” 

Her face reddened again. “Um… it’s not the right time. Right now, he’s a friend, and… I know he’s interested in someone else. I don’t want to lose the friendship, you know? Besides, I don't...," she paused, then said seriously. "I want him to like me because he wants to, because he really does like me, not because he feels sorry for me, or, or we got set up by someone but he's only doing it to humor them."

Adrien smiled. “That sounds like you, Marinette. And I know what you mean. But for what it's worth, I think he’s an idiot. You’re an awesome girl, Marinette! I can’t imagine anyone not wanting to date you.”

She stared at him, and he blushed suddenly. “I mean…you’re so good at video games, and you’re a talented designer, and you’re so kind and always helping people! Shouldn’t that be every guy’s dream girl?”

She got bright red and kind of whimpered a little. "S-so I have to go now! Um, I'm supposed to meet Alya… to work on homework!" She got up with a nervous laugh.

Adrien had finished his ice cream, but she still had half of hers left. She moved toward a trash can, but Adrien said, "Wait! Can I try it before you throw it away? It sounded interesting, and you really seemed to like it."

She stared at him, then wordlessly thrust her cone into his hand and took off running. He stared after her, completely confused as always at her sudden departure.

Plagg stuck his head out of his shirt and looked at him. "Smooth," was his only comment.

"I don't get it, Plagg. I thought I was giving her a compliment! Why did she run off?"

"I have NO idea." Plagg said. "Are you going to eat that?"

Adrien looked at the cone of slowly melting ice cream in his hand and took a bite. It was good! The peach and mint flavors blended in surprising but delightful ways. 

"You still want to help Marinette with this boy?" Plagg asked. 

"I don't know… she didn't seem like she wanted help." He offered the kwami a taste of Marinette’s ice cream, but Plagg didn't care for it.

"Yeah but you want her to be happy, right? As a friend?"

"Well, sure!"

"Then you should ask Andre about the flavors he gave her. Could be a good clue to finding out who this boy is."

Adrien thought about it. "I don't know, Plagg. She didn't want me to know who it is. And she's got a good reason for it- I know I wouldn't want to be forced into a date with someone I wasn't really interested in."

Plagg sighed. "Right. Of course not." He muttered something that sounded suspiciously like, "that would be too easy."

\----

The next day at school, Adrien decided to ask Nino about it. He wasn’t sure of the social codes here, and the last thing he wanted to do was get Marinette mad at him for interfering. He thought about asking Alya, but he wanted Nino’s opinion first.

“Hey, Nino,” he asked between classes. “Do… do you know if Marinette likes anyone?”

Nino blinked at him. “Uh… I’m not sure how much I should say.”

“Oh. So you do know. Is it something that’s supposed to stay private? Like…”

“Ok, wait a second. I’m not answering any questions until I know what you’re thinking, bro. Do you like Marinette or something?”

“Me? Just as a friend,” he said hastily, tell-tale blush creeping up on him. “But I want to help her if I can.”

Nino raised an eyebrow. “So why do you want to know? What happened?”

“Well, I met her at Andre’s yesterday…”

“Dude! You met Marinette at Andre’s? On purpose?” Nino seemed inordinately delighted by that scenario… Adrien hurried to explain.

“No, it’s not like that! She was there at the same time I was, that’s all. We just talked a little, and I asked her if she was waiting for someone, ‘cause, you know “sweethearts ice cream” and all.”

Nino’s eyes widened. “Uh-huh. And… what did she say?” Now he had that slightly constipated looking smile on his face that Adrien remembered from the trip to the Grevin Wax Museum. That had been… a confusing day. Adrien began to rethink his idea of asking Nino first.

“She said that she wasn’t. But then we started talking about the people we like, and she wouldn’t tell me who it was. She had a good reason for it, too, but… a friend told me I should try to help her out with whoever it is. You know, as a friend. What do you think? Should I try to figure out who this guy is, or… or would she get mad at me if I did?”

Nino rubbed the back of his neck uncomfortably. “Aheh… um… you should really talk to Alya. She’s Marinette’s best friend, so… she could probably tell you what would make Marinette mad better than I could.”

“Oh. Ok, I will!”

“Oooor…” Nino said, drawing the word out and looking just a bit guilty. “You could just ask Marinette again. I mean, if you do that, then you’ll know for sure, you know?”

“So… I should ask Marinette?”

“Definitely! This is the kind of thing you don’t want to get wrong, bro.” Nino patted him on the back and they walked into their next class.

Adrien thought about it through their whole physics class. Nino had a point- going straight to the source was probably the best way to figure out what was going on… but this seemed to be a prickly topic, considering Nino’s reactions, so maybe Alya was the safer bet. At least, if he asked Alya, he wouldn’t embarrass Marinette again.

But when he tried to corner Alya, she wouldn’t cooperate.

“Nope! Nino already told me what you want, and I am not going to get in the middle of this.”

“But why?” he asked, pleading.

“Adrien. I don’t know what she said to you or what you said to her, but whatever it was, it really upset her, and I’m not ok with that. This is between you and Marinette, and frankly, the two of you have to figure this out. If you really care about her, you will make the effort.”

“But I’m trying to!” he said, getting frustrated.

“Not yet, you aren’t.” she said, and walked away.

“Ugh,” Adrien said and turned to the nearest wall, banging his head gently against it’s surface. “Why does everything have to be so complicated? Why can’t people just say what they mean?!” 

“I say what I mean,” Plagg commented from his shirt pocket.

“Yeah, but most of what you talk about is cheese related. Not very helpful in this case.”

“Just talk to her! How hard can it be?”

For perhaps the one hundred and thirty-seven thousandth time, he cursed his father’s controlling personality that had denied him the opportunity to learn this kind of thing naturally from a young age. Everyone else seemed to pick up on cues that he missed completely, and there were times he was sure everyone was in on a secret he was not privy to. And no one seemed willing to help him learn.

Adrien thought of the time Marinette had, rather surprisingly, confessed her love for Cat Noir. He’d felt bad rejecting her, but at the time it had almost seemed like she was trying to push him to that. But then she’d started crying hysterically when he actually did, and that had led to her father being akumatized and a very painful solo fight with a massive were-creature who thought he had broken his daughter’s heart. Ladybug had been busy freeing Marinette, so he’d taken the brunt of it. Again. 

He sighed. “This is going to end badly. I just know it.”

\----

"Hey, Marinette! Wait a second," Adrien called as Marinette passed him and Nino on the school steps. Alya was with her and when Marinette didn't stop immediately, Alya held her back. They whispered to each other for a moment, then Alya patted her on the shoulder, shot a glare at Adrien, and walked away.

Adrien winced. That… was not encouraging. Nino gave him a sympathetic pat and said, "Good luck, bro," then left to catch up with Alya.

Adrien cautiously approached Marinette, unsure how to begin. Why, oh why had he taken Plagg's advice on this? If he'd just left it alone…

"So… can I ask you about something?" He said, a little diffidently. "I don't know what I said yesterday that upset you, but I'm really sorry. I thought I was just paying you a compliment!"

Marinette stood looking down at the pavement and sighed. "It was a compliment," she said, for once not stumbling over her words or acting nervously. "Don't worry about it."

Adrien rubbed the back of his neck. Suddenly he blurted out, "Marinette… I'm not a mind reader, ok? I can tell it's still bothering you, but I don't know how to make it right."

"Marinette!"

Adrien was startled until he remembered Marinette's text alert ringtone. Marinette stuck a hand in her purse and kept it there for a moment, probably turning the ringer off.

She still wouldn't look at him, but she finally nodded and said, "Ok, fine. Let's go talk in the park."

They walked the short distance in silence, Adrien nervous about what she was going to say, and Marinette oddly calm. She never seemed to be calm around him, so this was strange behavior from her. He must have really messed up.

They sat on a bench and after a minute Marinette began to talk.

"Adrien… what you said to me, about any boy being happy to date me… it was really nice. Except," she took a deep breath, "except that you're the one who said it."

"I'm confused," he said, after trying to decipher that. "… why is it bad if I say it?"

She slumped a little and looked away from him toward the fountain. It was the same fountain they had hidden in not that long ago, when he had run away from a screaming mob of crazed fans. 

"You like Ladybug, right?" She said after minute. 

"Yeah…" he blushed.

"And… and what if you knew she liked someone else… but she said the same thing to you?" Her voice had gone a little funny.

Adrien frowned, thinking about it. He'd often confessed his love to Ladybug as Cat Noir, but she usually either blew it off, or got annoyed. But what if she had told him how special he was… and still wouldn't return his feelings?

And then it hit him.

"Oh!" From the searing heat in his cheeks, he knew he was bright red. He suddenly felt majorly awkward and had no idea what to do. Why hadn’t he picked up on it before? Her nervousness around him, how he always felt happier around her than any other girl of his acquaintance except Ladybug… his worldview was rapidly changing and it blew his mind.

Marinette finally turned to face him, wiping her eyes and giving him a pitiful little smile.

"See? This is why I… didn't want to tell you. I knew it would make things awkward. But you kept pushing it… maybe it's for the best," she concluded, patting his arm almost absentmindedly. "After all…"

"Wait," he interrupted, getting his blush under control, and putting his hand over hers on his arm to keep it there. "Do you really like me that much, Marinette? Enough to let me be happy my own way?" he asked, remembering what she'd said about not forcing the boy to like her.

"Adrien… I-"

"Because," he continued, interrupting again, "every other time I've tried to find out if you liked me…" he trailed off. "It just confused me more."

He took her hand, looked into those tear-filled eyes and said gently, "I meant every word. I thought you didn't like me that way." He smiled. "You had such a hard time even talking to me, I thought I just made you uncomfortable. And I hated that."

"B-but… Ladybug…"

"Ladybug is amazing. She's strong, smart, capable, and just… amazing. But so are you, Marinette, in your own way. And… I could get to know you. I'm not sure Ladybug will ever let me all the way in. She has an identity to protect."

He watched the colors change in her cheeks, red fading to pink and back to red again. She seemed to be at a loss for words, so he drew her gently toward him until he could wrap his arms around her. Finally, finally, he felt her relax against him. 

"Adrien," she said softly, "I… didn't know. But, yes, I do like you that much."

He hugged her tighter, filled with a sudden surge of joy. Then he backed off, cupped her face in his hands, and kissed her. Then he looked at her, smiling, wiping the last of her tears away.

"Marinette, will you please be my girlfriend?"

She laughed delightedly. "Well, since I'm pretty sure Alya would kill me if I said no… yes. I would love to be your girlfriend."


End file.
